Sunday, December 31, 2017

My mom always wants us to have a new dress for holidays-Christmas, Easter, etc. I looked and looked for Christmas and couldn’t find anything I liked. I was about to give up when I heard The Loft was having a sale. I went and found this sweater dress and another skirt. It’s soft and comfortable and can be styled so many different way. I chose to style it with tights and heels and a red necklace for Christmas. It would also look great with black or gray booties. The accessory options are pretty endless. It’s the perfect winter dress.

Dress-The Loft

Shoes-Jessica Simpson from Marshall’s

Tights-Target (tip-buy a bigger than normal size so they don’t fall/roll down)

I haven’t exactly been looking forward to this birthday-not the day itself but turning another year older. There’s obviously nothing I can do about it so I might as well embrace it.

I was lucky to have a couple of birthday celebrations this year. I celebrated with Tiffany, Sage, and Michelle before they left for the holidays and again with my family on my actual birthday.

We met for dinner at Tsunami. Dinner was delicious and we had a lot of fun chatting. Tiffany brought yummy cupcakes for dessert.

After dinner, dessert, and a quick stop at the gas station for drinks we went to Christmas in Color. I knew driving through a field of lights would be cool. It really was incredible. I love light of any kind so it was the perfect birthday celebration. It meant a lot to me that they made sure to celebrate before they left.

I went to California the day before my birthday so I got to celebrate there too. That celebration was very similar-dinner, dessert, and Christmas lights. It was fun to be with family and celebrate with them.

This house is amazing. The house was covered in lights and the whole presentation blew me away.

We ended the night with a birthday treat. It was so great hearing from so many friends and family throughout the day. My heart was filled with so much love and joy.

Friday, December 15, 2017

I’ve been eating gluten free for the past few weeks to help/support a friend in her transition to eating gluten free. For the most part I just avoid foods that contain gluten rather than looking for substitutes. I’ve been wanting to try cauliflower crust pizza for a while, and this was the perfect time to do it. I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. I cheated a little and bought the crust and chicken already made.

I’m really trying to use the products I have rather than buying a lot more things. However, I do love trying new products.

Beaugenix mask-I ordered this from Groupon and still haven’t tried it. It’s a peel off mask and seems more fun to use with a friend rather than on my own. I brought it to Mandi’s house one night and also to Boise, but we were having too much fun to use it. Maybe I will try it over the holidays.

Immuno Gum-I don’t usually post about vitamins and medicines, but this is good enough to post. I typically have a really good immune system, but I have been really sick the past month. I had a sinus infection and who even knows what else. I went to the pharmacy several times and brought every single thing I could see. This gum supposedly helps the immune system after chewing for 5 minutes. Who knows if it really works or not, but I am going to believe it does (winky face).

Urban Decay nocturnal pallet-This pallet was a great Black Friday deal. It’s a great small pallet, and I really like it.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

We planned the running group holiday party at Sharon’s house right after the Saturday morning run to keep things simple and save time. Sharon and Greg made a yummy breakfast and it was fun to visit with each other especially those we don’t see as often. The party ended with a white elephant gift exchange and donations to the local homeless shelter.

Monday, December 4, 2017

2018 is right around the corner. 2017 has been a good year, but in a lot of ways I feel like it has flown by without me even noticing. I’ll do a full recap on my word EMBRACE at the end of the year. As we approach the end of the year, it is something I have been thinking about a lot.

my overall goal and theme for the year is EMBRACE even though my monthly goals don't always match that theme.

YEARLY GOALS

*nightly gratitude journal-better-i'm still using my commit 30 planner. i am either really good or really not good. i had good intentions especially with the month of Thanksgiving, but I did not do so well

*do something that scares me/pushes me out of my comfort zone-✓

*attend temple 12 times-i visited the Meridian, ID temple open house. i need to go one more time this month.

*monthly journal-just caught up

*csatt/fitness goals-i signed up for csatt again. i really love the accountability of the group, and it's nice to have a set plan each day. so far i'm really liking it and doing well with my goals.

NOVEMBER GOALS
I am keeping things pretty simple this month.
*NO SUGAR NOVEMBER-no treats/avoid added sugar. Thanksgiving is an exception. I did really well before Thanksgiving and things haven't been great since.
*50 burpees daily (except Sunday)-I ended up deciding to do Monday-Friday with running on Saturdays. I did the burpees everyday except one when I totally forgot.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Ever since Jen told us they might be moving to Boise, Mandi and I have been so excited to visit. We took a quick weekend trip a few weekends ago. We had the best time catching up with Jen and seeing her new home.

We took a spin class. I forgot how much I love spin. It was a great workout and so much fun.

Jen made her famous meatloaf. I have never tasted such delicious meatloaf in my life. It was amazing. My favorite part of the meal was Henry asking if he could have a banana instead of brussel sprouts.

Our trip was the same weekend as the Meridian temple open house. It was beautiful to see and such a great opportunity. I loved the chance to share something with Jen that’s so important to me.

We took a drive and saw the beautiful sunset and the city below.

We went downtown for dinner to celebrate Jen’s birthday. We had a delicious dinner and a fun evening and didn’t take any pictures.

We went on a hike before we left town. Jen has beautiful trails in her neighborhood. The top overlooks the city and it was beautiful. I was sucking wind the whole time and was a little discouraged at how difficult it was for me. I hung back and had time for a lot of reflection. I ended up getting sick a few days later so maybe that was part of it and/or hiking is one of the hardest exercises for me. I enjoy it, but it’s hard for me even when it’s not hard for others.

The weekend was so much fun. Jen and her family were gracious hosts. It was fun to visit Boise-a place very similar to SLC. The drive wasn’t bad at all and gave Mandi and me a great chance to catch up. It was the perfect weekend getaway.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Celsey planned the cutest Where the Wild Things Are 1st birthday party for Remington. He is a busy boy and the theme was perfect.
She found an inspiration photo on Instagram for this balloon arch. Once we figured out what we were doing, it was so easy and so cute. We will definitely do this again.
The food was so delicious-cheese and chocolate fondue, meat/cheese and crackers, and treats.
Rem wasn’t sure what to think about the cake and needed a little help. He didn’t love touching it, but he did enjoy eating it.
Celsey had a few cute games and other things. We were too busy eating and chatting and didn’t get around to them. We all had a fun time celebrating the cute little dude.